Thursday, November 24, 2016

I'm thankful for oxygen. And water. And fingers and eyeballs and ears. And flannel jommer pants. And dark chocolate. And tea. And snooze alarms. And hot showers. And the oak tree in the front yard. And books. And music. And tools. And People That Don't Suck. And Beastie Monster. And food and heat and AC. And a house with no bomb or bullet holes, wildfire scorches, earthquake cracks, or flood marks. And Bridget and Dogberry. And LJ and Howie. And Merf, Araminta, Plummet, and the collective herps and wights. And Miles.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

" . . . Holding hands and marching
forward, raising your voice above the din of complacency, can move
mountains. And in this case, I believe there is a vast majority who
wants to see this nation continue in tolerance and freedom. But it will
require speaking. . . . "

Thank you.

(Broken record part) qui tacet consentire videtur, people.

Calling bullshit on unethical/illegal actions and behavior is not divisiveness.

Challenging unjust or unethical actions is not censorship.

Refusing to validate emotional reasoning that borders on qualifying as a disassociative disorder is not intolerance.

"Can't we all just get along" becomes an endorsement of abuse when "getting along" means "you have to support social norms or legislation that lets NeoCon extremists have freedoms and rights you don't get to share".

If you want me to engage in "unifying" with the people that have put Trump and the rest of the various NeoCon flavors into power over the last decade, you need to start speaking up for equal rights and justice for all humans, working for integrity and fair dealing, and stop acting like WASP Americans don't have to share this planet with anyone else.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Hey you, the froggy Trumpeter that attempted to correct my speech and demanded that I call der incoming Führer "President Trump" and show him the level of respect she deems proper:

1. He's not president yet. Till he's sworn in in January, he's "president-elect".

2.
He has not one single jot of power to enact any legislation or change
policy till then, and that absolutely includes any that might punish
anyone for failure to meet his devotees' standards (or lack of) of
behavior.

3.
If you've spent the last eight years referring to the Obamas as "them
niggers", "them criminals", "them traitors", "them secret Muslims",
"them dirty apes (with or without heels)", etc., you sure as bloody hell
do not have the privilege of saying a single word to anyone about a
lack of deference to your boy without a challenge.

4.
Even if you haven't (and I've heard you do it), you have no legal
grounds to demand my compliance and tack an "or else" on it. Be advised
that your opinion about all us Libtards being weak and chickenshit may be
poorly informed. I'm the most dangerous thing on the planet; uppity white trash with an extensive library and a prodigious number of power tools.

5.
No, I am not now required to validate and excuse your shoddy behavior
in the name of some perverted spin about "national unity" and "coming
together". That's not constructive compromise, it's merely gaslighting.

6. There is no Rule 6, Bruce. And they managed to do that sketch and still not be jackasses to anyone but themselves.

7. Yeah, it's your opinion and you surely have a right
to it. But you don't have the right to spew whatever you like and then
insist that anyone who disagrees cannot have the same freedom, or that
you may not be held accountable for your words.

I'll vacuum the dog hair off before I give it back, I promise. Reposting Joe Dickerson's Facecrack post-election post. There are a couple of trifling details I can diverge on. But mainly it's a good sized wad of actual thinking about concrete forward action instead of just more kneejerking off, and that's a Beer & Cookies occasion:

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Well, congratulations to us; the lowest common denominator is confirmed as the dominant social norm that's driving the bus. Or at least it is for the ones in key electoral college states that get to overstep the popular vote. The Trumpers got what they wanted; may they now get what they deserve.

Trump is just one facet of the whole mess; I pity the rest of the world for having to deal with his ignorance, bullying, tantrums, and con artistry. The bigger problem is Trump's supporters. On the heels of the Tea Partiers and Aggrovangelical Dominionists that have been lowering the bar for civil rights and civil dialogue for the last decade, Trump's mob have been telling me and others that don't toe their line vehemently and often how we're not "real Americans", need to get our filthy hippie/gay/foreign/spearchucker/beaner/raghead/feminazi etc. libtard asses out of their country, need to be tried for treason/locked up/shot/gang raped with optional various yard implements, blah blah blah and so on.

I'm fine with that; why would I want to stay in a place where so many people are willing, with glee, to validate and indulge in the kind of behavior we've been seeing?

Repackaging malicious nationalism, fascism, narcissism, demagoguery, willful ignorance, and spin that would make a 3000 rpm drill dizzy as signs of integrity?

Where American Exceptionalism, the leftovers of Manifest Destiny, greed, and isolationism are portrayed as strength, and compromise, plurality, and common humanity are labeled as weakness and stupidity?

If that's the measuring stick for being a good American now, druther be unAmerican. It's just a shame that they have the capacity to drag so much of the rest of the world along behind them into the muck, and that so many of them think that's a good thing.

Monday, November 7, 2016

On today's installment of Things That Don't Suck At All, we bring you Pentatonix' having a go at Dog Days Are Over. Because freaking awesomeness, dammit. Show of hands, who can use some awesomeness at the moment?

Friday, November 4, 2016

THIS, THIS, THIS is why you need to get off your butts and vote, Chicks. Jerry's mother got to vote in 1920. But the state I live in, North Carolina, didn't ratify the 19th Amendment until my lifetime, in 1971. Fifty years after it passed at the Federal level. I remember people who were angry that it finally was, and there are a few pockets of screwballsfloating aroundthat would like to repeal it. Yes, I would like fries with my NO.